The Born This Way Ball
The Born This Way Ball Tour is the third concert tour by Lady Gaga to promote Born This Way. Gaga first announced the tour on February 19, 2011 during the first night of the third version of The Monster Ball Tour. Gaga stated that the current plan is to start the tour at the end of 2011 and that she is currently working on the design. Gaga also stated during an interview with Fuse, that she wanted the Born This Way Ball Tour to be more like a continuation of The Monster Ball Tour. Background On May 27, 2011, Gaga spoke to Australia's Sunday Herald Sun about the tour stating "the next tour I believe will be called the Born This Way Ball and that will be a much longer tour of Australia. Pink’s tour of Australia is truly inspiring. I don’t know if it will be that long but maybe if we’re lucky. It will be next year, at the top of next year. I think it’s really unfair that artists don’t bring their entire shows Down Under because it is quite expensive to cargo. But I don’t do this for the money. I do it for the thrill of music and theatre so I will be bringing my whole show with me." On June 13, Gaga revealed further about the tour. :"I do have plans, it will be at the top of next year but I have to begin rehearsing by the end of this year. That's what I do. It's time for another marathon. If you're running a marathon, and you're about to cross the finish line, you don't stop and say, 'Oh, once I cross it, it's over.' You run as fast as you can to get there as quickly as you can. So I guess, for me, it's about how many marathons can I run? How many dreams can I make true? Now, not for me, but for my fans" During the iHeartRadio Music Festival, a new interlude title, "Hooker Film", was used. Development “The Haus of Gaga and I have worked for months conceiving a spectacular stage, The Born This Way Ball is an Electro-Metal Pop-Opera; the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating.” In February 2012, Lady Gaga released a promotional image for the tour; she is wrapped in plastic outside the gates of the Electric Chapel. Stage On February 6, 2012, Gaga tweeted that the central area within the stage will be known as "The Monster Pit", which is regulated to general admission fans who were the first to arrive. Every night, the Haus of Gaga will also choose fans from the Monster Pit to come backstage and meet Gaga. On Lady Gaga's official website, the rules of eligibility for the Monster Pit were described in more detail. On February 7 at midnight (EST), Gaga tweeted a sketch of the stage for the tour. Monster Pit eligibility details *Due to venue capacity issues, only those with GA floor tickets will be eligible to earn Monster Pit access. *For safety & security reasons, fans won't be permitted to line up at the venue before 8am local time the day of the show; those with GA floor tickets can line up in the Monster Pit eligibility line. The afternoon of each show, Monster Pit access wristbands will be distributed to GA floor ticket holders who have arrived first, waited the longest, and are dressed to "Ball." *The first person in line for the Monster Pill will receive a key. *A very limited amount of Monster Pit passes will be held and distributed at random each night for those who do NOT have GA floor tickets; these will be awarded to fans who arrived first, waited longest, + dressed to "Ball" but who do not have GA floor tickets. Holders of the Monster Pit's key The first person in line for the Monster Pill will receive a key. They are called the "Holders of the Monster Pit's key". After each show, Gaga's team upload the picture with the holder on LittleMonsters.com. The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 4-27-12.jpg|Jong-Jin The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-2-12.jpg|Andrew The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-3-12.jpg|Py Leung The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key 2nd holder 5-3-12.jpg|Thomas Chui The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-5-12.jpg|Sai Wing Lau The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-7-12.jpg|Henry Law Man Fung The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-10-12.jpg|Shinsaku Nakayma The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-12-12.jpg|Yasuaki Takeuchi The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-13-12.jpg|Marie Amano The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-17-12.jpg|Han Huang The Born This Way Ball Monster pit key holder 5-18-12.jpg|Lao Shu Chung Images BTWBT-Promo.jpg|Promotional photo 2-8-12.jpg|First 11 dates of the tour 4-9-12.png|The European dates of the tour Opening acts * The Darkness (European Leg) * Lady Starlight (Oceanian/European Legs) (selected dates) * Zedd (Oceanian/Asian Legs) Set list ;Act I — Escaping #''Space (intro)'' #"Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" #''Operation: Kill the Bitch (interlude)'' #"Government Hooker" #''Birth (interlude)'' #"Born This Way" #"Black Jesus † Amen Fashion" #''Interlude'' #"Bloody Mary" #''Mother G.O.A.T. Manifesto I (interlude)'' #"Bad Romance" #''Interlude'' #"Judas" ;Act II #"Fashion of His Love" #"Just Dance" #"LoveGame" #"Telephone" ;Act III — Invading Earth #''Mother G.O.A.T. Manifesto II (interlude)'' #"Heavy Metal Lover" #"Bad Kids" #"Hair" (acoustic) #"Yoü and I" (acoustic) #"Electric Chapel" ;Act IV — The Eternal Meat #''Interlude'' #"Americano" / "Poker Face" (medley) #"Alejandro" #"Paparazzi" ;Act V — Freedom #"Scheiße" #"The Edge of Glory" (acoustic + album) #"Marry the Night" Notes *"Black Jesus † Amen Fashion" was performed after "Scheiße" from April 27 to May 12, 2012 only. *After "Scheiße" is performed, everything goes black as if the show ended. A few minutes later, Gaga comes back with two songs for the encore. Dates 2012 2013 *January to April (North America) A ^aThere was no "Monster Pit" at these shows. Hairstyles The Born This Way Ball Tour Electric Chapel 002.jpg|1 The Born This Way Ball Tour Americano 003.jpg|2 The Born This Way Ball Tour Hair 002.jpg|3 The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Romance 004.jpg|4 #Blonde - Short bangs with pigtails - April 27 - May 2, 2012 #Blonde - Short bangs with ponytails then pigtails - May 3, 2012 #Blonde - Long hair with no bangs - May 5 - May 7, 2012 #*For May 7, she performed with a ponytail. #Grey and pink - Long hair with no bangs - May 10 - TBA Summary Opening Act The music played in the venue before the show is composed of classical pieces instead of Michael Jackson's tracks which was used for her Monster Ball Tour. Act I — Escaping "Space Intro" The show begins in pitch black with a "space" inspired instrumental track. After a couple of seconds, a marching beat kicks in while Gaga is dressed as an alien, is walking while mounted on a mechanical horse/unicorn with an escort. The Born This Way Ball Tour Space 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Space 002.jpg "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" then begins while the stage is still dark with occasional strobe white lights flashing around the "Fame Castle". The song is performed in a shortened version (around 2:10, the album version runs at 4:16) starting after the first 25 seconds at "Run, run with her t-" until the full first chorus is performed then followed by the final verses of the song ("Get your hot rods ready to rumble"). Giorgio Armani-Born This Way Ball-04.jpg Terry Richardson 4-27-12 009.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Highway Unicorn 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Highway Unicorn 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Highway Unicorn 003.jpg :Lady Gaga — Outfit by Armani Privé "Operation: Kill the Bitch" At the end of "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" the noise of machine guns fiering can be heard and then the first interlude begins right after with a repeating beeping sound (sonar like) while moving spotlights search across the castle the space renegade, Lady Gaga. She is seen walking on the upper levels of the castle while hiding from the spotlights. Towards the end of the interlude, a pre-recorded dialogue of "Mother G.O.A.T." is played: "Initiating satellite. Space renagade Lady Gaga has escaped. Downloading image of prisoner. Alien fugitive objective: To birth a new race. Operation: Kill the bitch!" This is the first time in the concert that "Mother G.O.A.T." has made an appearance. At the starts of her speech, "Mother" is a giant jewel shape structure with pink neon on the edge of it. "Mother" also has a skull projection in the middle. At the line "Downloading image of prisoner", the skull merges into Gaga's face with prosthetic horns. Her voice has a strong French accent and she speaks in a very slowly manner. She ends the interlude by taking a very low tone to say "Kill the bitch!". The Born This Way Ball Tour Operation Kill the Bitch 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Operation Kill the Bitch 002.jpg "Government Hooker" After the voice-over, Gaga is heard singing the opera-like opening vocals of "Government Hooker". She continues with the song while she goes down from the upper level of the castle while stopping occasionally to do slow sex movements. Before she reaches the floor, a dancer sat at a work desk emerges from the floor. She mounts the desktop and continue her sexy dance but this time for the dancer. The song stops after the verse "Put your hands on me,", she opens the drawer of the desk to grab a gun and shoots the dancer. They resume briefly the song with a final verse ("I'm gonna drink my tears tonight,"). She then goes to the main gate of the castle and opens it by firing a shot directly at it. This is followed with Gaga saying "Welcome to the Born This Way Ball" before fleeing offstage. The Born This Way Ball Tour Government Hooker 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Government Hooker 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Government Hooker 006.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Government Hooker 004.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Government Hooker 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Government Hooker 005.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Government Hooker 007.jpg "Born This Way" The song begins with an extended introduction of "Born This Way" for 2 minutes. During that time, the castle opens up by rotating the front part which is comprised of two pieces that rotate on each side of the stage. Near the end of the musical interlude, a women is heard and seen birthing a new race onstage while it's recovered of fog. Only the women's legs are shown onstage with a part of her latex dress with black Christian Louboutin with the signature red sole. This is then followed by "Born This Way". All the dancers and Gaga are wearing translucent pale yellow latex outfits. The dancers' hair are recovered of a goo-ish texture like a new born baby. The choreography is the same as in the music video. Gaga, near the end of the song, walks into the castle while singing the last part. The dancers follow at the end of the song. Giorgio Armani-Born This Way Ball-02.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Born This Way 004.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Born This Way 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Born This Way 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Born This Way 003.jpg :Lady Gaga — Outfit by Armani Privé :Dancers — Outfits by (Unknown designer) "Black Jesus † Amen Fashion" (Need actual version) April to May 12 (During the opening of the song, Gaga removed her shirt while saying: "When they ask you, What did you learn about me? Just remember to tell them this:" followed by singing the song.) The Born This Way Ball Tour Black Jesus Amen Fashion 001.jpg|1 The Born This Way Ball Tour Black Jesus Amen Fashion 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Black Jesus Amen Fashion 003.jpg|2 The Born This Way Ball Tour Black Jesus Amen Fashion 004.jpg # Outfit by Unknown (Apr 27 - May 12, 2012) # Outfit by Unknown (May 13, 2012) "Bloody Mary" A 1 minute interlude is played before performing "Bloody Mary". Gaga is seen wearing a white outfit with a helmet of the same color while appearing to be skating on the stage outside of the Monster Pit using a fog effect. The Born This Way Ball Tour Bloody Mary 001.jpg|1 The Born This Way Ball Tour Bloody Mary 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Bloody Mary 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Bloody Mary 004.jpg|2 575208722.jpg|Took By Terry Richardson :Gaga — 1 Helmet by Unknown (Apr 27, 2012, May 5, 2012 - TBA), Dress by Unknown, 2 Helmet by Unknown (May 2, 2012) :Dancers — Dress by Unknown Manifesto of Mother Monster The Manifesto of Mother Mother interlude consists of a diamond shaped, rotating prism containing an animatronic replication of Lady Gaga's face, with prosthetics, called Mother G.O.A.T., which recited the Manifesto of Mother Monster as originally introduced in the video for "Born This Way" :"This is the "Manifesto of Mother Monster": On G.O.A.T, a Government Owned Alien Territory in space, a birth of magnificent and magical proportions took place. But the birth was not finite; it was infinite. As the wombs numbered, and the mitosis of the future began, it was perceived that this infamous moment in life is not temporal; it is eternal. And thus began the beginning of the new race: a race within the race of humanity." The Born This Way Ball Manifesto of Mother Monster 001.jpg "Bad Romance" After "Bad Romance" Gaga says, ” When you leave, some of you will stick by me. And others, will betray me. You will not kill me!". The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Romance 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Romance 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Romance 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Romance 004.jpg :Lady Gaga — Outfit by Brandon Maxwell, mask by Void of Course :Dancers — Outfits by Brandon Maxwell "Judas" Gaga gets tied up on the castle by two dancers. They beat her up, and then she beats them up and chases them off with a gun. The song ends with the DJ White Shadow Remix version. The Born This Way Ball Tour Judas 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Judas 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Judas 003.jpg Act II "Fashion of His Love" With purple lights, Gaga is performing next to a mirror on the upper level. This is the shortened version of the song. The Born This Way Ball Tour Fashion of His Love 001.jpg|1 The Born This Way Ball Tour Fashion of His Love 002.jpg|2 The Born This Way Ball Tour Fashion of His Love 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Fashion of His Love 004.jpg|3 The Born This Way Ball Tour Fashion of His Love 005.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Fashion of His Love 007.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Fashion of His Love 006.jpg|4 :Lady Gaga — 1 Dress by (unknown designer) (Apr 27 - May 2, 2012, May 5, 2012), 2 Red outfit by (unknown designer) (May 3, 2012), 3 Purple outfit by Moschino (May 7, 2012 - May 10, 2012, May 17, 2012 - TBA), 4 Pink outfit by Christian Dada (May 12, 2012 - May 13, 2012) "Just Dance" Begin straight after "Fashion of His Love" with the extended intro of "Just Dance". The song ending is part of the Robot to Mars remix leaving time for Gaga to do an outfit change. The Born This Way Ball Tour Just Dance 001.jpg|1 The Born This Way Ball Tour Just Dance 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Just Dance 003.jpg|2 The Born This Way Ball Tour Just Dance 004.jpg|3 The Born This Way Ball Tour Just Dance 005.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Just Dance 006.jpg|4 The Born This Way Ball Tour Just Dance 007.jpg :Lady Gaga — 1 Keyboard dress by Perry Meek (Haus of Gaga) (Apr 27 - May 2, 2012, May 5, 2012) "LoveGame" A new shortened version of "LoveGame" with the Dave Audé remix as the ending. The Born This Way Ball Tour LoveGame 001.png The Born This Way Ball Tour LoveGame 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour LoveGame 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour LoveGame 004.jpg :Lady Gaga — Crown by (unknown designer), Disco Stick by (unknown designer) "Telephone" After "LoveGame", "Telephone" is performed. At the end of the song, Gaga leaves the stage. The Born This Way Ball Tour Telephone 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Telephone 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Telephone 003.jpg Act III — Invading Earth Mother G.O.A.T. Manifesto II "Mother G.O.A.T." says: “It was instantly that this enigmatic fugitive became the host agent and body to a new colony. A colony which would strive to extract our most classified information. A monstrous preparation it was. Training and decoding the creativity of rebellion for one purpose: to invade Earth.” The Born This Way Ball Interlude no. 7 001.jpg "Heavy Metal Lover" After the interlude, the dancers arrive on the stage while Gaga arrives on cue for her first vocals as a motocycle being drived by one of her dancers with a long jacket. Before the last chorus, Gaga stands up revealing her outfits by a hat on her head. The Born This Way Ball Tour Heavy Metal Lover 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Heavy Metal Lover 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Heavy Metal Lover 003.jpg :Lady Gaga — Moto by (Unknown), hat, shoulder pieces (May 2, 2012-Present), bra and pantie piece by Armani Privé "Bad Kids" Gaga puts on a jacket with a red cross on the back over the "Heavy Metal Lover" outfit and performs "Bad Kids". The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Kids 001.jpg|1 The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Kids 002.jpg|2 The_Born_This_Way_Ball_Tour_Bad_Kids_003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Bad Kids 004.jpg|3 :Lady Gaga — 1 Jacket by (unknown designer), 2 Outfit by Giorgio Armani, shoes by Unknown, 3 boots by ??? "Hair" Gaga plays the stripped, piano version of "Hair". The Born This Way Ball Tour Hair 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Hair 002.jpg "Yoü and I" Gaga plays the stripped, piano version of "Yoü and I". The Born This Way Ball Tour You and I 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour You and I 002.jpg "Electric Chapel" Gaga performs the song with an electric guitar. The Born This Way Ball Tour Electric Chapel.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Electric Chapel 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Electric Chapel 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Electric Chapel 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Electric Chapel 004.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Electric Chapel 005.jpg Act IV — The Eternal Meat "Americano" A Spanish guitar intro plays, along with an opening of the castle. Dancing around a meat rack. Near the end, Gaga grabs her gun. During the performance of "Americano," Lady Gaga appeared wearing a recreation of the Franc Fernandez's Meat Dress she wore at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards. The Born This Way Ball Tour Americano 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Americano 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Americano 001.jpg :Lady Gaga — Meat Dress recreation by Perry Meek (Haus of Gaga) :Dancers — Meat bikini recreation by Perry Meek (Haus of Gaga) "Poker Face" Before the song, Gaga says, "... We'll be no longer treated as meat on the cover of a magazine. On the Born This Way Ball that's very sexy how we treated meat. Wanna see my Poker Face?" At the end of the song, Gaga is lowered with the meat processing machine. The Born This Way Ball Tour Poker Face 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Poker Face 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Poker Face 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Poker Face 004.jpg "Alejandro" There is an extended intro, giving Gaga time for a outfit change, then raise her and the meat "sofa" onstage. Her male dancers are all wearing boxers with military boots. At the end of the song, Gaga and some male dancers are lowered with the meat sofa. The Born This Way Ball Tour Alejandro 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Alejandro 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Alejandro 003.jpg :Lady Gaga — Gun bra by Unknown, Pants by Unknown "Paparazzi" At the beginning of "Paparazzi", the "Mother G.O.A.T." is seen flying around the castle while miming singing the words to the song. Only 1 minute into the song, the castle opens and Gaga arrives in a new outfit. At the end of the song, Gaga shoots her gun and kills "Mother G.O.A.T.". The Born This Way Ball Tour Paparazzi 001.jpg The_Born_This_Way_Ball_Tour_Paparazzi_002.jpg 4-30-12 02.jpg :Lady Gaga — Hat, top, and pants by Unknown Act V — Freedom "Scheiße" She begins "Scheiße" with singing acappella the first verse of the song followed by yelling, “You won’t kill me bitch! You won’t be able to kill our dreams and our rights, this is who we are". At the end of Scheiße, from April to May 12, she said, “I want you to remember that tonight is about breeding compassion. Be compassionate and loving,and remember that you’re as free as you decide. Breed compassion. Amen Fashion.” From May to Present, at the end of the song, Gaga says "Good night everybody" and then leaves the stage. All the lights goes down as if to "fake" the end of the show. The Born This Way Ball Tour Scheiße 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Scheiße 002.jpg :Dancers — Outfits by Unknown "The Edge of Glory" During the blackout, the castle was moved again to is initial position. She begins by playing the first 40 seconds of the song on a piano. During that part, she said, "I know sometimes it can feel really lonely, and you might feel like some people are trying to destroy you… But, you can never be destroyed.". This was followed by the full album version of the song. During the sax solo, Mark does his dance routine with Gaga on the upper level of the castle. The Born This Way Ball Tour The Edge of Glory 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour The Edge of Glory 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour The Edge of Glory 003.jpg :Lady Gaga — Silk satin skeleton print robe, leather top, shorts, and jacket by Atelier Versace :Mark Kanemura — outfit by Atelier Versace "Marry the Night" After a couple of minutes, the song begins and the castle is slightly light up with purple lights. She performs a short version of the song, also using a keytar. The keytar on the opening night was her old AX-Synths by Roland revamped for the occasion. She replaced it with a keytar made by Armani Privé. The Born This Way Ball Tour Marry the Night 001.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Marry The Night 002.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Marry The Night 003.jpg The Born This Way Ball Tour Marry The Night 004.jpg :Dancers — outfit by Atelier Versace Personnel *Choreographer — Richard Jackson *Fashion director — Nicola Formichetti *Management — Troy Carter *Hair stylist for Lady Gaga — Frederic Aspiras *Make up artist for Lady Gaga — Tara Savelo *Assistant — Sonja Durham *Musical director – Joe "Flip" Wilson *Dancers' make up artist – Sarah Nicole Tanno *Dancers – Asiel Hardison, Ian McKenzie, Mark Kanemura, Jeremy Hudson, Graham Breitenstein , Victor Rojas, Kevin Frey, David Lei Brandt, Montana Efaw, Sloan-Taylor Rabinor, Amanda Balen, Knicole Haggins Band *Keyboards — Brockett Parsons *Drums — George "Spanky" McCurdy *Bass — Lanar “Kern” Brantley *Guitars — Ricky Tillo, Tim Steward *Keytar — Lady Gaga (in "Marry the Night") Category:Concert tour Category:The Born This Way Ball Tour